Top-Ranked Le Moyne Upended by No. 2 Adelphi

Syracuse, N.Y. – Salvatore Tuttle scored three times in the third quarter to lead second-ranked Adelphi to a 13-11 win over the top-ranked Le Moyne lacrosse team on Saturday afternoon at Ted Grant Field in a battle of the last two undefeated teams in the country.

Le Moyne lost at home (the Greater Syracuse area) in the regular season for the first time since a 9-8 loss to then-C.W. Post (now LIU Post) during the 2001 season, a span of 81 games, while the Dolphins lost a regular season Northeast-10 Conference game for the first time since a 15-14 loss to Merrimack College during the 1998 season, a span of 72 games.

The teams alternated goals in the opening quarter. Senior midfielder Kam Bumpus (Marshfield, Mass./Needham/Bridgton Academy) started the scoring by dodging from the left side and tallying his 10th goal of the season at the 13:19 mark.

The Panthers tied the score as Tuttle ran around the left side of the net off a restart to record his 27th goal of the season with 9:58 left. Le Moyne regained the lead with 4:54 remaining in the quarter as sophomore attackman Mike Jenkins (Clifton Park, N.Y./Shenendehowa) picked up an errant shot behind the net and ran around the right side of the cage before ripping a 10-yard shot into the back of the net.

Adelphi tied the score again with 3:10 left as Nick Watson scored from the left side after taking a pass from the top of the box from Robert Rossi. The Dolphins took the lead back with 1:14 remaining as Jenkins rolled to his right and sent a pass across the crease to junior attackman Kevin Kelly (Basking Ridge, N.J./Ridge), who netted his 25th goal of the campaign.

The Dolphins took a 4-2 lead just under two minutes into the second quarter as Kelly scored from the left edge of the crease in an extra-man opportunity off another cross-crease pass by Jenkins.

Adelphi tallied the final three goals of the quarter to take a 5-4 lead into the intermission. Nick Susko pulled the Panthers within a goal 25 seconds after Kelly scored from 10 yards after taking a pass from the left side from Joe Celano and spinning back to his right. Following almost seven minutes of scoreless action, Watson tied the score with 5:47 remaining by scoring from the left side of the crease and dodging from behind the goal. The Panthers took the lead with 2:08 left as Patrick Starke took the ball behind the cage and rolled back around the right side to tally his fifth goal of the campaign.

The teams traded goals over the opening 12 minutes of the third quarter. Brandon Goodwin started the scoring at the 12:36 mark with his back to the goal after coming from behind the goal. Following a save by junior goalkeeper Pat Brothers (Burlington, Mass./Malden Catholic), the Dolphins scored in transition as junior midfielder Alec Westerhoff (Lagrange Park, Ill./Lyon Township/Bridgton Academy) sent a pass to Kelly before getting it back to score his first goal of the season with 11:04 left.

Just 49 seconds later, Adelphi regained its two-goal lead as Tim Daly bulled through his defender on the right side to record his fifth goal of the year. After another save by Brothers, Jenkins scored from the right crease with 7:13 remaining after taking a pass from the top of the box from Bumpus. Daly then gave the Panthers an 8-6 lead with 5:00 left with a dodge from the left side. After being awarded the ensuing faceoff, Bumpus raced upfield to tally his 11th goal of the season seven seconds later.

Less than a minute later, Tuttle beat a double team in a man-down situation around the left side of the net to post his 28th goal of the year and force a Le Moyne goalkeeper change. Kelly got the Dolphins within 9-8 with 3:14 left by registering his career-best 27th goal of the season from the left crease off a feed from the top by senior midfielder Andrew Chadderdon (Auburn, N.Y./Auburn). Tuttle ended the back-and-forth action 12 seconds later by taking the ball behind the cage before spinning back around the left side.